I felt the need to touch on this subject because for the last month, my emotions (my mental state) have been all over the place! I had all sorts of feelings and I know I was getting on my mom and friends’ nerves because I began to complain more, snap more, give up and even question my physical appearance! In just 1 week after being excited about my new exercise program, I crashed the next week–I stopped exercising because my mind was thinking, “what is the point of killing myself with exercise if I am still gaining weight?!” Basically, I became emotionally unsteady for sure! Have you felt this way too? Do you know someone going through something like this too? Don’t give up on yourself or them!
They thyroid imbalance has the potential to cause a person to become depressed. (I have several books written by numerous doctors to validate my claims–I’ll share that later.) Though I have been on this journey now for about 15 years, I have cycles too that seem to align with a woman’s cycle of life that throws me off. I can recall feeling the same way at 30 and then at 35, but because there’s so much time between the two periods sometimes I don’t recognize that my thyroid is off, until I get really low, which by then I am depressed and angry. I was so depressed and angry that I wasn’t seeing any results that I stopped taking my thyroid supplements. Yes, I did! I felt that they weren’t as effective and I was tired of the doctors “trying things”. After all, I got a Master’s Degree for doing research, I can try things too. Against my doctor’s wishes, I stopped taking the supplements and he supported me with 1 condition that if I continue to gain weight and get sluggish, I have to start back in a month. Well, guess what? I continued to gain weight even with burning 400 – 500 calories 5 days per week with a strict diet! In 1 month, I gained the 12 pounds that I had lost 2 months prior!!! Now wouldn’t you get depressed on that?!!
So, I had to remind myself that I do not have a thyroid gland (or I should say that I have very little gland left) because I had the radioactive iodine treatment 14 years ago and I need to take the supplements just so that I can have some thyroid hormones. I had to stop comparing my situation to every case study that has been done to help folks with this disease. Most of those patients still had their thyroid gland. Any rate, though I thought I wasn’t seeing results, the extra thyroid supplements were preventing me from getting worse.
So, now I am on my way back up again. I started back taking compound T4 on March 13th, as well as avoiding foods that could potentially work against the thyroid–foods like cabbage, turnips, strawberries, just to name a few (check out my previous blog on this topic). I am feeling better and I LOVE myself again! I will keep myself in check by blogging about my status–it’s therapeutic.
If you are feeling similar to my feelings, don’t give up, don’t get depressed or frustrated. It may not be you, it could be your thyroid imbalance. If you haven’t been seeing a doctor, please schedule an appointment now. Everyone needs support when fighting against this disease! I learned this after 15 years!
Hi, Steph, you are definitely on the thyroid roller coaster! I had no one to talk with when I was on this ride back in 1994. However, now there are a lot of support groups, websites, blogs, and books that are very helpful (I’ll post the list I used). What has also helped me is talking about my feelings with close loved ones and reading about what other women are going through; knowing that I am not alone in this journey. Also, lots of prayer/ meditation. I exercised daily even during those times that I wasn’t gaining, but just maintaining the weight that I was at that moment. Just the thought of gaining pushed me.
So even if you haven’t gained any weight, make sure you exercise regularly and watch your diet. See the article that I wrote on “Do You Have Thyroid Problems?”. I talked about the foods to eat.
Are you taking any meds yet? Synthroid, Cytomel, etc.? I noticed that whenever my thyroid was out of balance, I would be a mess and emotional. You are doing the right thing by getting a biopsy done and seeing your doctor.
Finally and most importantly thing I did to help with these up & down feelings was found a doctor who actually listens to me and who treated me and not by the “textbook”! It is imperative that you not waste time with doctors who try to convince you that you aren’t feeling the way you know you feel. It’s imperative that you help drive in your healing process. For many years, I stayed in the passenger seat, and I kept missing my exit.
The book Thyroid Power really helped me understand a lot of issues once I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism! It’s been 7 yrs now and even though I’m medically evened out… I still have good days and bad days. I lost 30 lbs going on a strict diet and exercise… I gained back 15 because I was just tired of it all. I’ve gotten back on track over the past 2 weeks have lost 3 lbs… it takes a lot of work! Now that I’m over 40 yrs old… the struggles are greater to take off weight and maintain.
Yes indeed over 30 with the thyroid is an interesting roller coaster ride!